New York Cop Suspended After Encouraging Child To Use N-Word In Video

New York City police officials suspended an officer without pay and ordered her to undergo a drug test after a video appeared on Instagram that purports to show the officer encouraging her 2-year-old niece to use the N-word, the New York Daily News reports.

Officer Delinda Giraldo, who plans to file a lawsuit against the department, told The Daily News on Wednesday that her ex-boyfriend is involved in the surfacing of several video clips, and using them to stop her from reporting his abuse in their tumultuous relationship.

Giraldo told the newspaper that her ex-boyfriend, Officer Michael Martinez, was physically abusive. He allegedly broke her nose and arm. He has said that Giraldo made false domestic violence claims against him, in their ongoing legal dispute.

The suspended officer suspects that Martinez is behind the video, in which she appears to tell the toddler to repeat the racial slur. When the girl’s mother, Giraldo’s sister, tells her daughter to stop, Giraldo pushes her niece to repeat the N-word, adding that the slur is “not that serious,” according to the newspaper.

Sanders said Giraldo, now 29 years old, was about 18 or 19 years old when the video involving the N-word was recorded—about six years before she joined the police force, according to the newspaper. Consequently, the department cannot punish her, he added.

“She’s not denying she’s a part of those videos. The bottom line is, ‘Who cares?’ ” Sanders, who is Black, stated, according to The Daily News.

There’s some doubt, however, about when the videos were shot. The newspaper points out that a man in one of the videos calls Giraldo the “po-po,” a common slang for police.